


ex's and oh's

by orphan_account



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Brotherly Love, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Father Figures, and money, and sex, basically just a lot of guns, but its nice, daddy nathan drake, divorced elena fisher, divorced nathan drake, father figure victor sullivan, incomplete work, its messy, pregnant Elena, where the lost legacy was after uncharted 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-23 00:04:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13775454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: halle should've never accepted this offer. now she's in a foreign country with eight random strangers and her tragic ex.





	1. Chapter 1

she was working her nightly shift when a sort of rugged looking man walked in. was that .. blood .. on his shirt? whatever. she wouldn’t question it. halle was having a rough night already. do you ever just get in a mood where you need something? where you need someone you can’t have? that’s exactly what she felt like. she had to sit here and act like she wanted the men throwing dollar bills at her but she didn’t. she didn’t want them. she wanted someone who was probably miles and miles away. but alas, she kept dancing.  
strip that down came on as she wrapped her arms around herself, swinging her body to the beat of the music. the stranger’s eyes widened. he walked up and grabbed a seat towards the back of the club. he was dressed in a simple tuxedo and something about him just dripped with sex and lust. something about him closed the gap that another stranger left in her heart.  
she laughed as she realized she was filling three years worth of loss with a random stranger.  
whatever. live a little, you feel?  
towards the end of shape of you, about twenty minutes later right as her shift ended and people began to clear out of the club, the man approached the stage. and with one swift motion, he dropped one hundred dollars on the edge of the stage. you see, in this club the dancers were allowed to keep the money thrown at them so being short on cash, halle practically scrambled towards the edge, almost falling off, to grab the hundred dollar bill. the man smirked, winking at her and waltzed out the door.  
halle’s eyes widened, her jaw dropped as she watched the door close behind him. her coworker, bella, walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. when that didn’t get her attention off the door, bella began waving her hands in front of halle’s face. “hello?” she snapped out of her little trance, shoving the bill in her jacket pocket before the other girl could see it. “hey, sorry … good luck out there,” she mumbled and ran off the stage, hoping to catch the handsome stranger before he got too far from the club. she slipped on her plaid bralette and matching plaid trousers and then slipped the same fur jacket on her shoulders, despite the sweat from her performance that lie within the fabric. practically throwing on her heeled boots, she shoved her performance outfit in her bag and bolted for the door. tying her hair up with a white scrunchie as she ran, halle shoved the door open, running out onto the sidewalk before her. looking around, she couldn’t catch sight of the man. “shit!” she thought aloud.  
“looking for someone?” a voice sounded from behind her.  
“yeah, actu-” she turned to be met with the handsome stranger from the club. “i was .. looking for you, to be quite honest. thank you .. for the tip ..” he smiled at her timidness and nodded, the smirk from earlier reappearing on his face. “of course, love. it’s the least i could do. to be honest i was having a rough night before coming into that club. my wife and i- nevermind.”  
halle couldn’t understand the last of the sentence due to the mumbling but smiled softly as he called her love. “really?” she would never reveal it, but was surprised with the man’s scenario as it matched her own. they were both in the dumps prior to locking eyes.  
he nodded. “i’m nathan, by the way. nathan drake.” halle choked on air.  
NATHAN DRAKE? LIKE THE NATHAN DRAKE? LIKE THE NATHAN DRAKE WHO FOUND HENRY AVERY’S TREASURE? OH. MY. FRANCIS. DRAKE.  
“you okay there, love?” he wrapped his arm around her and began walking with her by his side. his hand gradually slid down until it was right on her rear end. she had to do everything she could to keep the redness off of her cheeks. halle nodded, continuing to walk with him. “so, got any plans tonight? anything that would prevent you from ending up with me? i get a little lonely, y’know?” halle shook her head. “nope, no plans. nothing that could keep me away from you,” she mumbled the last part but then looked back up at his beautiful blue eyes. “so, my place or yours? drinks are on me.”

-


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who's chloe and how does she know our storyteller? find out in the next chapter!  
> ( of course i had to make this one a cliffhanger )

-

beep. beep. beep.  
she woke up, slapping the dresser beside her only to realize that the alarm clock lie on the other side of the bed. rolling over, she was suddenly met with an obstacle. a naked man. nearly falling out of the bed, she gaped. was that .. nathan? she took a moment to asses the situation. there was a bird chirping outside. she was clothed. she was not at home. she peeked under the covers, oh thank god. he was clothed too.  
beep beep beep beep.  
the beeps had sped up now. peeling the covers back, she looked down to see that she was clothed too. hm. did they have sex ..? who knows. all she knew was that she wished that damned alarm clock would shut up. she creeped over to the other side of the room, careful not to wake nathan up. slamming her hand down on that button, she sighed a sigh of relief. finally some peace and quiet. or so she thought. “WAKEY WAKEY LITTLE BROTHER!” she heard erupting from the living room. hand on the doorknob, she almost turned it when suddenly her phone buzzed. quietly tiptoeing back over to her side of the bed, she picked up the little red device.  
\- halle?  
sent at 7:39 am  
not knowing who it is, she texted back cautiously.  
\- who is this?  
\- guess.  
\- i’m not playing this game with you. so help me god you either tell me who you are or i’m blocking the number  
\- it’s chlo, i’m in town, drinks?  
the phone hit the floor.  
“AY, YOU OKAY UP THERE, NATE?”  
no, nothing was okay. thank god nathan was a heavy sleeper but halle’s eyes were already tearing up. chloe frazer. chloe frazer was in town.  
okay, let’s get into this one.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you all are enjoying this fic so far! tune in every day ( or so ) for a new update! yes, the chapters are short, but they come every day so please bare with me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little bit of chloe + halle's backstory

-

it all started in germany. halle was exploring the nazi tunnels looking for some little treasures to keep her lust fed for a little while before she could afford to fly back to a bigger city. hearing lots of german voices, she couldn’t help but find the one english voice quite soothing. despite that it was saying not so soothing things. apparently someone had grabbed her .. well, you get the idea. and the girl was proceeding to curse out the man who’d done it. finding her intriguing, halle made her way through the crowd in an attempt to set eyes on this girl. once she finally did, she couldn’t take her eyes off said female. she was a gorgeous girl. she had long, black hair and eyes that her admirer easily got lost in.  
those eyes were rolled as she stormed off, flipping the man off as she turned around and walked away. feeling captured by the girl and the aura she gave off, halle followed.

after about twenty minutes of sneaking around through alleyways and hiding behind trash cans so she wouldn’t be seen, she watched the stranger walk up to a locked door. reaching into the pocket of her jean jacket, the stranger pulled out a pistol. with nowhere to hide, halle was forced to stand there and look this girl in the eye as she was held at gunpoint.  
“why are you following me?”  
“wait you .. you saw me?”  
“how stupid do you think i am?”  
halle sighed. “if your looks are anything like your brains, not so stupid.”  
“oh, you flatterer.” she cocked the gun. “now answer my question.”  
halle tried to come up with a decent lie. “you’re the only one who speaks decent english in this country. sue me for wanting a friend.” the stranger laughed, putting the gun down. “alright, you look like a deer caught in headlights. sorry for the whole gun thing, by the way. it’s just that i’ve got some bastards following me and i need to make sure you’re not one of them.” the other girl shrugged. “it’s fine. not a bastard. well, at least not one of the bastards following you.”  
“um, technically you did follow me, sunshine.”  
she shot the lock on the door with the pistol. “well, in we go. ladies first.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oOH LOOK AT ME POSTING MORE THAN ONE CHAPTER A DAY  
> ( even though this is hella short )


	4. Chapter 4

-

“chloe ..” halle gasped, pulling back for air. they were in a dark room, barely able to see each other but she could tell that chloe was mere inches from her face. she brushed some of the hair out of halle’s face, “yes?” “as much as i love how you taste, i have to breathe, angel.” how did they go from stalker and stranger to this? she couldn’t quite remember. they’d been flirting halfway through the tunnels and then suddenly they came to another locked door. with a shot taken at the door but nearly an inch from halle’s hip, the girl laughed and said the classic ‘ missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me. ‘ only seconds later she was backed up against the wall, arms wrapped around her neck and chloe, whose name she finally found out, against her lips.

-

“NATE?” the voice snapped halle back into reality. tears were already streaming down her face as she picked the phone up off the floor. she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. the door swung open. “nathan, i’ve yelled like thirteen hundred times at you- you’re not nathan.” he looked around frantically, running out the door for only a moment and then storming back in, gun in hand. “explain who you- wait, why are you crying.” halle fell on her knees. nathan groaned from the noise but stayed asleep.

“it’s .. complicated.” putting the gun down, the man tilted his head. “explain.”

through sobs, halle explained the situation, pausing to blow her nose a few times in the tissues that the man provided. “who are you, by the way?” he asked. “i could ask the same to you.” “i’m sam, nathan’s older brother. i’m kind of in between places right now so i’ve been crashing on nate’s couch. your turn.” 

halle sat down on the little seat at the edge of nathan’s bed. “name’s halle. i’m a treasure hunter but i make my money stripping when i’m in low spots, which i’m currently in.” she looked down at herself. “judging from the clothes he loaned me, i don’t think we had sex. but judging from the hangover, we definitely got drunk.”

“why don’t you wake him up? sweetheart, he can probably help much more than i have.”

“maybe i should.”

“look, before you do .. i don’t want him to see me be all sappy but i’ll say it to you just because you’re upset. you got this. you can do this. i haven’t really known you all that long but you seem pretty chill. hell, you might be new and all but you already seem to have made yourself at home and i have no plans of stopping ya. just know that i believe in you. sic parvis magna, doll.”

halle tilted her head with confusion. “what does that mean?” “it means ‘ from little things, big things come. ‘ it’s an old sir francis drake,” halle smiled at the mention of her idol, “quote that me and nate pretty much live by.” she wiped her tears on the sleeve of the white sweater that nathan had given her to wear. “thank you, sam.” he sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her and lying her head on his shoulder. “anytime. now, us being friends and all, i do need to tell you something. nathan is recently divorced and it hasn’t been made official.” halle’s eyes widened. he had to be kidding. of course. he’s still married. OF. COURSE. nothing ever goes her way, does it? she started to cry even harder. without saying anything more, sam got up and walked over to nate’s side of the bed. he gently shook his shoulders. “little brother?” nathan groaned. “five more minutes,” he mumbled. 

halle stood up, walking over to stand beside him. she knew they hadn’t kissed yet, thankfully she remembered that part of last night, but she somehow had the urge to kiss him awake. leaning down, she kissed his cheek. “baby, please wake up.” and with that, nathan’s eyes opened. focusing his eyes, he noticed that halle was crying. instantly he jolted up. “what happened? .. and why does my head hurt so much?” 

“don’t worry, we didn’t have sex.” he sighed a sigh of relief. “but why are you crying?”

“he .. sam .. sam told me about your wife.”

his eyes nearly turned red. “SAMUEL DRAKE WHY THE FU-”

“hey, hey, chill .. i’m not mad. it was just a one night stand, i get it.”

nathan sat up, pushing the covers off. he grabbed her arm. “hey, no .. you’re more than just a one night stand.”

“but you’re married.”

“but she doesn’t matter.”

“nathan-” sam interrupted.

“no, don’t ‘ nathan ‘ me, elena left me because of the life i pursue. she said i wouldn’t be a good father to cassie and that broke me for months. if i move on, that’s fine.”

the room was silent for a moment.

“you’re so much better than you think you are, okay?” nathan grabbed halle’s hand and pulled her onto the bed beside you. “trust me, you’re really smart. like, genius levels of smart. and i’ve got a good feelin’ about this one. about us. so how about it? make it through this and i’ll take you on an adventure. deal?”

he pulled her into a hug. “aw,” sam said as they embraced. as if to interrupt the moment, there was a knock on the door downstairs. “of course. i never get time to do what i want,” nathan sighed. “and what is it that you want?” “you,” he winked at halle.

“anyways, lovebirds, we’ve got company.”

and with that sam dashed out the room. halle looked down at her current outfit. a white sweatshirt, her navy blue panties, and a pair of black knee socks that she guessed belonged to this ‘ elena ‘ person. “so i kinda need some clothes,” she looked at nathan. he nodded, going straight to the side of the room where halle slept. he swung the door to the closet open. rummaging through the drawers, he through her a pair of dark grey jean shorts. “keep the sweater on. you look cute in it,” he mumbled. she ignored the last part of that sentence, still unsure of her feelings for nate. she slipped on the shorts, running to the bathroom and quickly washing her face to make sure it didn’t look like she had been crying. running after nathan and down the stairs, she watched as sam opened the door for a rather rugged looking older man. he ran in and immediately headed towards the coffee table towards the middle of the living room, some sort of document in hand. he laid it out on the table, it appearing to be a map. “we’ve got a problem, boys.” he looked up to lock eyes with halle, “and girl? sam, who’d you bring home this time?”

nate laughed. “actually, i brought her home,” he attempted to wrap an arm around her but she shrugged it off, looking back to the man. “anyway, explain ..” she said, changing the topic. the man stuck out a hand. “the name’s sullivan. victor sullivan. call me sully, kid.” she nodded.

“anyway, the problem.” he pointed to a spot on the map, a place towards the middle. it looked familiar but halle couldn’t quite put her finger on where it was in the world. “there’s a new criminal in town. intel from none other than your favorite person, nadine ross. says she’s got someone who’s been undercover with this man for about a year now in india. name’s asav. but the only intel we have is from nadine. do we trust her? that’s up to you two. but from the looks of it he’s planning a heist on the king kothi palace. that’s a treasure that could let us all retire. but have it fall in the wrong hands and that’s enough money to make thousands upon thousands of bombs, buy guns, you name it. we trust her? we gain four members on the team. flynn, who you’re also familiar with, is working with nadine now. and whoever this new undercover agent is. rafe is still teamed with her so that’s a bonus too. but that’s four people who’ve fucked us over before. all except this new kid. but can i just say, we’d make one hell of a team.” 

all three of the other members gaped at sully. “you can’t be serious ..” nathan said.

“oh, i can be. and according to none other than mega bitch herself we have,” he looked at his watch, “about an hour to pack all our shit up and get to the airport before the four of them take a flight to india.”

“well ..”

sam and drake said the next part in unison after exchanging a few mumbles to each other.

“let’s get packing.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to shambhalala for the pep talks!


	5. Chapter 5

-

halle crossed her legs on the bed as she watched nathan try to stuff a white tee shirt into his already-full suitcase. “so, you’re telling me that i’m supposed to just quit my job and spend my savings on a plane ticket to a country with a language i don’t speak with six people i don’t know, and trust this man who i met all because he threw me a hundred because my ass looked nice?”

nathan couldn’t help but laugh at that last part. “look, i promised you an adventure and this is what i’m offering.” 

halle had to take a moment to think about the pros and cons of this. pro, she was taking her mind off this whole chloe thing. con, she’d miss the opportunity to get drinks with chloe .. or was that a pro? major con, she was leaving her whole life behind. all that she knew lately was new orleans. she’d finally gotten the chance to settle down and now she was being placed on the run again. thank god it just wasn’t her mother this time. but hey, this was the epitome of an adventure and she couldn’t miss out on the opportunity for it .. could she? 

“what about my stuff? my guns? my clothes?” 

“we can stop by your place on the way there, deal?”

she sighed.

“ .. whatever.”

-

“lady,” sullivan said as he opened her side of the car’s door. sam and nathan were already loading luggage out of the back of the jeep. they’d reached the airport safely and were all lugging their suitcases behind them as they approached the counter where they could buy their tickets. “four for india, first class.” sullivan handed the man a wad of hundreds that he just casually pulled from his pockets. the woman’s eyes gaped but she took the necessary sum of money, handed him his change, and turned her head to the next customer.

-

once on the plane, the four of them easily found ‘ nadine ‘ and sat down at the bar with her. ordering a round for everyone, sullivan looked at nadine curiously. “so, where’s the rest of the crew?” nadine turned her chair around and pointed at a little couch that was shielded by half walls. “rafe, flynn, and chloe are over there.” halfway into a sip, halle choked on the drink. chloe? no way .. it can’t be the same chloe. could it? her breathing intensified and her hands began to shake. noticing her changed attitude, nathan leaned over and whispered in her ear. “you okay?” she nodded, standing up. “yeah, just gonna .. um .. go to the bathroom.” she found this as an opportunity to sneak a peek at her new team members.

walking past the booth, the first one she lay her eyes on was a rather suave looking man with brown hair and a little bit of scruff. he looked up, as if he felt the eyes upon him, flashing halle with a charming smile. that must be rafe. or flynn. she couldn’t tell but whoever it was, she was intrigued. next, she looked at the man sitting beside him. beside him was a younger looking man, with sort of chestnut colored hair, just a piece of it hanging down. and finally .. the girl.

chloe.

chloe frazer?

no, there was no way-

oh my god.

it was her.

-


	6. Chapter 6

-

halle threw up. yeah, she made it to the bathroom. only to throw up from pure anxiety at the sight of chloe. knocking on the door to the little bathroom, sullivan called her name. “halle? you good?” tears of both pain in her stomach and just pure sadness rolled down her cheeks. she cracked open the door, staring at sullivan with red eyes. “do i look good to you?” his eyes instantly shined with concern. he grabbed her hand lightly, gently pulling her out of the cabin. “come on .. let’s go to our seats and talk about this.” oh god .. what if she was sitting next to chloe? what would she do? she’d just have to deal with it.

“alright kid,” sully said as he sat down in his little pod and lowered the barrier. “get to talking.” halle explained the situation in between choking on her tears. “look, kid. if anyone can do this, it’s you. i’ve seen some shit in my time and i’ve seen navy seals who couldn’t do what you do. and just think of all the riches you’ll get when you’re done with this. and i’m not just talkin’ about the money, no no. you’ll be proud. and i’ll be proud of you. there ain’t nothin’ greater than that.” she looked up and he smiled that reassuring smile at her. “t-thank you, sully ..” he nodded. “now look, here she comes. so you two get to talking and i’ll be over here with the barrier up takin’ a nap. tap if you need me, kid.” he pulled the barrier up in his little pod as halle turned her head to see none other than chloe frazer walking towards her. she looked beautiful. she was wearing a white tee shirt with one of halle’s favorite bands on it, a leather jacket, and ripped black jeans with fishnets poking through. she sat down without even passing a glance to halle. she folded one leg over the other and began to scroll on her phone. getting an idea, halle pulled out hers as well.

 

  * __hey.__


  * _what?_


  * _h e y ._



 

chloe turned her head and lifted an eyebrow at her. “you know you could’ve just said hi to me verbally. i’m not deaf.” halle shrugged. “so is this when we .. y’know .. catch up?”

“i guess.”

-  
  


“landing in t-15 minutes,” the intercom sounded. halle was sitting at the bar again, teetering on drunk with chloe and nadine.

“no, get this shit. one time i found nathan trying to steal my loot and i came up behind him .. son of a bitch screamed like a little girl.” halle laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes. “oh my god, why can i imagine that?”

“please take your seats,” the intercom sounded again as the three girls walked away from the bar.

as she and chloe sat down together, sully pulled down the barrier. “so, guess who else is in on this little gig?” he said to both nathan, who was on the other side of him, and halle. “who?” nate asked. “none other than charlie cutter.” curious to what was going on, chloe poked her head past halle and asked a question. “charlie? oh, i’ve missed him and the rabbits,” she laughed at her own joke, only something she would do. as they chatted about old adventures with cutter, the plane landed. they all gathered up their things and headed down the steps and into the airport to wait on their luggage on the belt. as a black duffel bag and a blue suitcase came down the belt, halle ran to grab it. “got mine!” she yelled back towards the rest of the party. as someone was behind her, she accidentally yelled into his ear. “oh my god, i’m so sorry,” she said to the man. “nah, it’s fine. so, i see we haven’t formally met. name’s rafe.” he stuck his hand out for a handshake. she quickly took the opportunity to grab his hand and shake it. “halle. halle kyne.” walking up behind her, nate put a hand on her shoulder. “not trying to steal my girl are you, rafe?” “your girl?” she turned and looked at nate with slight concern. ‘ rafe ‘ threw his hands up in defense. “nope. as lovely as she is, she’s all yours.” a slight pink blush shone on halle’s face. “aw, look at that.” rafe cupped her cheek and ran a thumb over it. “cute.” he said quietly but then turned around and continued looking for his luggage. sam, with luggage already in hand, approached the two of them. “so, hotel has been booked. i’ll be with flynn, chloe with nadine, and you two lovebirds will share a room. and rafe bunks alone because god knows he loves his solitude.” halle sighed and looked at nate. “lovebirds?” she gazed back at samuel. “please, stop calling us that.” “will do.” he nodded, despite the questioning stare of nate.

-


	7. Chapter 7

-

once they had gotten to the hotel, they quickly went into their rooms and all claimed their side of the room, lying down and falling asleep due to their jet lag. all except chloe. she grabbed a book out of her duffel bag and went down to the lobby, pen in hand. the book was her journal, which she hadn’t really been using lately. but a spur of the moment trip to india was sure to be one hell of an entry. sitting down on one of the red velvet couches, she began to journal about reconciling with chloe. writing all this down was helping a bit but she couldn’t help but become teary eyed yet again as she wrote. 

already crying, she was noticed by a familiar looking woman. she sat down next to halle and asked her what was wrong. explaining the situation for the fourth time today, she sobbed even harder. cutting off her sentence, the woman began to speak. “hey, hold up a second, would ya? just give me a minute to say this. i want you to know that this won’t last forever. you’ve worked so hard to get over her, and i strongly admire your efforts. and they won’t go to waste, so don’t let this thing be the end of you. and if i can help you in any way at all, you just tell me. my name’s elena. and i’ll be here for you.” 

“wait .. are you-”

“yes, i’m nathan’s ex wife. and yes, i know who you are. you’re his new girlfriend. and as much as that hurts to see how quickly he’s moved on, i don’t hold anything against you, okay? i saw you guys at the airport and followed you here. i’m here with charlie and nathan doesn’t know so keep my presence our little secret, okay? here’s my number,” she stole the pen from halle’s hand and began to write on the girl’s skin. “i’m only a few roads down, call me if you need me.”

-


	8. Chapter 8

-

halle pulled her phone out, texting the number.

 

  * __i’m not his new girlfriend__


  * _who is this?_


  * _it’s halle_



 

she wondered why elena thought that he was dating halle.

was it because they constantly hung out? it was strictly professional .. right? at least, halle considered it professional. it was obvious that nathan did not. nathan wanted something from her that she was incapable of giving.

 

  * __oh__


  * _yeah_


  * _if you’re not his new girlfriend, who are you?_


  * _a work associate_



 

was she really a work associate? she didn’t really know.

she sighed, lying down on the couch and sighing. she stared up at the beautiful glass ceilings of the hotel.

they’d picked a rather lavish hotel. it was probably rafe’s doing. halle didn’t know much about rafe but from the little she did know and just listening in on others’ conversations about him, she could tell that he was one for money.

she thought back to an old song. “green like american money,” she hummed.

music had such an impact on her life. she had already placed mental playlists on all of the people in her little gang.

 

  * __i don’t buy it__



 

she didn’t know much about elena but the way she was just accusing halle of dating nathan kind of ruffled her nonexistent feathers.

 

  * __i didn’t ask you to.__



 

she didn’t really know what to think but she sent another message.

 

  * __look, i just met you. i thank you for the little pep talk you gave me but you’re in no place to assume anything about my life.__



 

she huffed, put her phone back in her pocket, and stood up.

on her way back up to her room, just before she could get the keycard into the slot, she heard someone come out of the room next to hers. it was chloe. 

“hey, walk and talk?” she asked, already noticing the tear stains on halle’s cheeks.

halle nodded and followed her all the way down to the hotel’s courtyard in silence. they took a seat on a stone bench and chloe turned to her. “all right, sunshine. we’ve got a tough road ahead of us and i know neither one of us wants to go down it. but look, you’ve got me again, and you can trust me. we’ll work through this shitstorm together. just like old times. but i’m not letting you let the past get the best of you. i know you’re hurt and it’s my fault but i’m sorry, china.” walking up behind her, nadine nodded. “look, china. you’re the toughest son of a bitch i’ve met in a long time and i know you can do this. kick those emotions right in the teeth. i know you can. hell, if you won’t, i will. we’ve got bigger and more exciting battles to fight right now. don’t be afraid just because of who’s by your side, yeah? chloe’s not as hellish as she seems,” she chuckled.

“aye! i’m not hellish!”

“i never said you were,” nadine continued to laugh.

with the sleeve of her already tear-stained sweater, halle wiped her face. “thank you two. god, i feel like the girl who never stops crying. sam, nate, and el- this random woman have already given me pep talks today and i’m still going at it.”

“well, prepare for more. i think we kind of alarmed the boys coming down here.”

“speak of the devil,” chloe mumbled, looking up and watching as both flynn and rafe walked up behind nadine.

“damn it, if there was any way that i could buy you a way out of this and straight to happiness then i would do it in a heartbeat, no matter what the price. and i’m sorry i can’t. but just know that all of us are here for you and will stick with you until the very end if it means seeing your smile. i don’t screw over my partners.”

“yeah, right.” nadine rolled her eyes at that last part.

“alright ..” flynn sat down on the other side of halle. “my turn. chin up, the world isn’t always as bleak as it seems, ‘specially when you’ve got a charming, handsome mate like me to help you out, yeah? suppose it also helps that you’re not half bad yourself. even if we just met, i already like you. so don’t let this defeat you, i’d hate to waste all this faith i’m puttin’ in you.”

halle smiled and looked at the four of them. “thank you, guys .. but would mind giving me a moment alone with chloe?” rafe put a hand on her shoulder, nodding.

“not at all. clear out, team.” he pointed back towards the door and left with both flynn and nadine following him.

“what’s up, china?” chloe turned back to her.

“look, i’m sorry .. it’s just that after you left in germany without even saying goodbye, i never got over it. even with meeting nate .. he was just someone who took my mind off of things for one night. and now everyone including him thinks we’re some sort of soulmates when in reality, the only one on my mind is you. and it’s not like i want you- well, i don’t know .. but i know you’ve moved on to bigger and better things with nadine and them but seeing you here and actually talking to you just brings it all back and i’m sorry, chloe, but i can’t forget what might’ve been-” her words gradually got quicker and quicker.

“halle, slow down.”

“i’m sorry,” she managed to choke out before she began crying again.

“hey, hey .. it’s okay. i promise. look, me and you are gonna have to go undercover soon and i don’t want our past to ruin our future. so i do need to say this so listen closely, cupcake. i never wanted to leave without saying goodbye. i was forced to. i was literally on my way here. that’s how long this whole asav operation has been going on. i wanted to say goodbye. i wanted your lips one last time, but i couldn’t have that. it’s a consequence for this lifestyle. and i’m sorry. but just know that i would do anything to have made us last but me and you can’t happen right now. i know you don’t love him the way you love me but you would be much safer with nathan. now, come on, let’s get some rest.”

-


	9. Chapter 9

-

and with that she was back in her hotel room, finishing up her journal entry and then going to sleep for a few hours. once the morning rolled around, she was awoken with sully shaking her shoulder. “c’mon, kid. rise and shine. time to go.” she groaned but peeled back the covers. throwing on some black adidas track pants, she followed sully into nadine and chloe’s room. everyone had pulled the chairs up to surround chloe’s bed where the same map sully had brought into nathan’s house lie. “okay,” said nate once halle had taken her seat. “lead the way, nadine,” he gestured to her and then to the map. she nodded, standing.

“okay,” she pointed to a red x on the map. “this is asav’s next hit. chloe and i have been with him for a while so we were obviously invited. the only trouble we’re going to have is getting halle in there with us so she can grab the artifact before asav does. “wait, aren’t we missing charlie?” chloe asked. nathan quickly interjected. “i sent him a message. thankfully i still had his number back from old times. he’ll be meeting us at the museum.” chloe nodded, letting nadine continue speaking. “so, we need a female and halle’s the only one left who won’t already be on the job. you okay with that?” she looked in her eyes. halle was unsure at first but with everyone in the room staring her down, anticipating a yes, she said it.

“okay, good. you’re gonna have to sneak through the air vents, hence why we needed a girl. no offense, nate, i know you’re itching to get on the field but this requires a more feminine touch.”

they finished making plans, going over tactics and loading their guns, all waiting for the night to arrive.

-

“you ready?” nate looked across their room at halle who was sitting on the bed, tieing her black sneakers up. “mhm. ready as i’ll ever be.” chloe and nadine had already taken off a little while ago, both hugging halle goodbye and wishing her good luck on her first mission with them.

once at the museum, sully parked the van near an open window. “okay,” he turned around in his seat and looked at halle. “the vent in this room is broke so it will give you entrance to the rest of the airways.” he pulled a small, crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “this is a map of the system. it should get you through to the room where the control panel is. once in there, all you have to do is knock out the guard and turn off the alarm. then just shoot one of us a text and all we’ll have to do is walk straight through the front door.” she nodded, taking the map and memorizing it as best as she could before shoving it in her pocket. “look out for guards patrolling, okay? be safe, love.” she cringed a little at the l word but thanked him for his concern and opened the door of the car. charlie, who’d grabbed the back seat without anyone noticing, leaned up. sam, sitting beside halle, jumped. “WHY DIDN’T EITHER OF YOU JACKASSES TELL US HE WAS HERE-” he looked at rafe and flynn. they shrugged. “you got this. just keep your mind clear. you better fight hard, don’t go down without a fight. trust me, you don’t need us. call if you need backup but i doubt that you will. we believe in you, newcomer.” she smiled genuinely, thanking cutter for his words and then getting out of the car. as soon as her sneakers hit the grass, her nerves escalated. she was leaving the only safety she knew behind for a little while. oh boy. as the air hit her stomach, she was wearing a cropped shirt, she shivered. normally she wouldn’t wear something so casual but she didn’t have time to change before the party swooped her out the door to the hotel. so here she was, sneaking through a window in a white tee that was cropped, track pants, a pink beanie, and her sneakers. following the map which she’d have to pull out every now and then, she made it to the vent that she could see the security guard out of. he was sleeping on the job, shame on him. she quietly opened the vent, sliding out. knocking the guard out, she laughed. this felt good, to be back on the field. she looked at the mass of buttons in front of her looking for a simple ‘ off. ‘ of course it couldn’t be that simple. she flipped all the switches she could, accidentally turning on the lights but eventually finding one that resulted in the ‘ alarm disabled ‘ notification. she pulled out her phone.

**_to nathan drake, sent at 9:54 pm_ **

 

  * __come on in__


  * _omw._



 

she headed down to the room where she was instructed to meet them.

-


	10. Chapter 10

“sully, you’re insane, you can’t just walk up to asav and ask him to hang out.”

“i’m not asking him to hang out. i’m asking him to help me find who took this damned idol.”

“what’s taking you three so long- where’s the idol?” sam walked in.

“well, you see. that’s what we’re trying to figure out. it’s not here and i texted chloe and asav hasn’t got it either so your dear darling mentor is thinking of hanging here coming up with some sort of fake name to use when he asks asav for help on finding it.”

“that’s actually not a bad idea, provided we had backup.”

“ARE YOU INSANE-” halle yelled.

“keep your voice down,” nate looked at her concerningly.

“he could say he’s one of chloe’s old friends, which wouldn’t be a lie, and join their team. that makes three undercover.”

“SEE? why not, kid? it’s not like i’m claiming i’m fbi or some shit.”

asav was apparently known for shooting his allies, thank god that hadn’t been chloe or nadine. but who’s to say it won’t be sullivan? assets were important but three undercover? it was tricky. especially with a determined victor sullivan pestering halle.

“so, my job is to stay out with halle and come in if all goes to shit?” nate said, already palming a knife, which was the only weapon sully had allowed him to have tonight. what? he still saw nathan as a kid.

“sure, and the others go back to the hotel and prepare the drinks. we’ll have this idol by the end of the night. or at least a closer trail as to who got here before us.”

halle sighed. great, this meant being left alone with nathan, whom she was still confused about. she didn’t know what to do. yeah, the guy was cute and all but dating again? she didn’t know what to think about any of it.

are you supposed to love someone you got drunk with? they didn’t even have sex. i mean, she wouldn’t have minded if they did, to tell the truth.

but that was a whole nother story, her physical attraction to nate. she lusted for him, that was for damn sure, but actually going out with him was a completely different story than fucking him. not like either would ever happen .. right?

suddenly, halle’s phone beeped.

 

  * __we’re out front. why is the van still here?!__


  * _change of plans. just pretend you know sully okay??_



 

“you sure you got this?” nate asked.

“ha, cute. you think i can’t do this.”

sam sighed, walking out and waving his hand. 

“good luck, old man.” reaching the front door, he cursed. “shit, they’re here already.”

“well, i could’ve told you that. c’mon, let’s just go back to the control room,” she gestured in the direction of the hallway that lead to it. running down it with nate and sam following her, she prayed for sully in the back of her head.

“we’ll call if we need you, okay? it’s safer for you to get out of here,” halle said to sam once they’d reached the room, shutting and locking the door. he nodded crawling out the window and saying goodbye.

“and then there were two,” nate said.

halle sighed, shoving the still passed out security guard out of his chair and taking his spot.

“must get pretty lonely, being on the run,” he tried to make conversation with her.

“i’d like a friend but i’m not so good at the people thing,” she pulled a piece of gum out of her pocket and popped it in her mouth. “if you couldn’t already tell.”

nate shrugged, looking at her sparkling eyes.

“no girlfriend then, i assume?” he asked, putting his hand out for a piece of gum. she handed it to him, an eyebrow raised. “you like cinnamon gum too?” he nodded.

“yes, i do. have since i was a little kid, ask sully. it helps keep me off cigarettes. anyway, my question.” she shoved the gum pack back in her pocket. “oh, that. no, no girlfriend. being on the run you either take her with you or become one of those lover-in-every-city type of girls. you?”

“why do you ask when you already know what happened?” he laughed and she shrugged.

he was right, technically she already knew.

“so, do you miss her?” halle blurted out, without thinking. oh my god, did she actually ask him that? she’d been thinking about whether he missed her or not but she never thought she’d get the courage to ask him. if only sully would hurry.

“sure,” nathan whispered.

halle let out a sigh at the fact that he didn’t question what she’d asked.

“holy shit,” she murmured. “sorry about asking that, i don’t know what i was thinking i-” she cut herself off before she could say anything stupider.

“nah, it’s fine.”

“you sure?”

“i’m sure,” nathan murmured.

“what does ‘ sure ‘ mean?”

“i guess i do miss her, just not much .. she told me i’d be a horrible father for her child. like, if i was to be a horrible father, why did you let me get you pregnant?”

halle gaped. she didn’t know what to say. nate kind of just went off and halle didn’t really know what to say about it.

“nate, i don’t know what to say to that .. i mean chloe and i fucked but i never knocked a girl up and then got called a horrible mother,” she trailed off on the last part. she really didn’t know what to tell him.

he shrugged. he’d only said it because it was on his mind and he’d been wanting to talk about it with someone. it’d hurt him. ever since the only woman he’d truly loved walked out on him, part of him had been lost.

“it’s fine, i just- i guess i needed to talk about it with someone and other than sam and sully, you’re the only one that i trust. emotions is something i’d normally go to elena for but obviously that won’t happen anymore.”

“i’m sorry you lost her.”

“don’t be.”

“but i am. and nothing you say is going to stop me from caring about you. look, i know this shit is all confusing what with the raging feelings and all that but i do still care about you. maybe i’m not the best at showing it but ..”

and she didn’t lie when she said that. she did care about him. and sometimes she didn’t show it right but she would never deny the fact that she cared for him. romantically, she was confused but in terms of friendship, she worried about him.

“look,” she said again, “i just want you to know that i’m here. i literally went through the same thing. sure, maybe i didn’t knock chloe up and get the horrible mother comment but i got some just as bad.”

“i know you’re here for me, i do. it’s just hard. it’s hard because i miss her. it’s hard because i’m growing feelings for someone new.”

he sighed, leaning back. he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know what to do. this was all confusing to not just halle.

“you think you’re confused? well what about me, huh? what about the man who loves two people at the same time?”

halle was speechless. she didn’t know what to say. she didn’t even know he missed elena in the first place and now here he was about to cry about it.

“don’t act like i asked for you to have feelings for me. don’t act like i flirted with you first and then expected it back.

“i never said you did, don’t put words in my mouth.” halle sighed at his comment. it was obvious she had struck a nerve with the whole elena thing. yeah, she missed chloe and she cried over it every now and then but she couldn’t imagine what nathan was going through. she loved chloe, she did. but the key word there was ‘ did. ‘ she got over chloe. now all nate needed to do was get over elena.

“what about you?” nathan asked cautiously. “do you miss chloe?”

“well .. not really, i just-” she held her lips tightly shut as she tried to think something up. “i thought you might miss elena.” 

nathan shrugged. halle knew she’d just lied to him and you should never start out a relationship with lies but what was she supposed to say? say yes and then start crying to him over her again? she didn’t want to be a burden.

“we should stick together, shouldn’t we? the ones who miss their past,” he said.

so he had noticed. halle froze. she didn’t know what to say, or what to do for that matter. was it their conversation the previous day that had given it away? or was it the events in the courtyard that someone had probably awared him of?

“i wouldn’t know,” she said, blushing ever so slightly. she felt drunk even though she hadn’t had anything to drink. had someone tainted her precious cinnamon gum? maybe that’s why nate was acting weird too. they were chewing tainted gum.

“maybe i could help you get over her?” he leaned forward and brought his lips toward hers. he smiled and then connected the two.

halle had no idea what to do. she was clueless. was she supposed to kiss him back? was she supposed to do that cute thing she once did with chloe where you wrap your arms- dammit, WHY WAS SHE THINKING OF CHLOE WITH ANOTHER MAN ON HER LIPS?! why was there another man on her lips in the first pla- okay, that was a dumb question. it was obvious that he liked her. easing into the kiss, she decided just to go along with it until he pulled back.

“you alright there, sugar?”

before halle could respond, the door was knocked on quietly. “guys, open the door,” someone familiar said. it sounded like sully so halle trusted him enough to unlock and open it.

“come on, we need to go before he finds me,” sully grabbed nate and halle’s hands and led them to the window. halle, still red in the face, followed him but began to question what happened. “he had nadine pull a gun on me.”

they walked back to a meeting point where sam came and picked them up. “so,” sully turned to halle and whispered so nate wouldn’t hear. “how’d it go?”

halle looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

“u-uh it went fine!” she said rather too enthusiastically, which she cursed herself for. she’d been asking so many mental questions tonight but she couldn’t help but conjure up the ‘ did he see it? ‘ one too.

“you okay, kid? you do know i saw that right? you and nate.”

halle looked like she was gonna pass out from how pale she was.

“sully, i-”

“kid, it’s okay. i’m always gonna have your back. no matter who you fall for, as long as they’re not a backstabbing scumbag. nate’s a good kid, one of the best out there, i trust him with you. now let’s say we find some beers and forget that i nearly just got shot by nadine for the 204th time, huh?”

halle laughed, sitting down in the car.

“let’s.”


End file.
